The present invention relates to a powdered beverage mixing and dispensing apparatus. The apparatus dispenses a powdered beverage substance and mixes it with water to produce a desired beverage.
Prior art beverage mixing devices encountered problems as a result of the powdered beverage substance forming clumps and cakes. The beverage substance powder is hydroscopic and thus readily absorbs moisture. Prior art beverage mixing devices typically used hot water and, as a result, produced steam or water vapor within the beverage apparatus. The entrapped water vapor was absorbed by the hydrophilic powder, resulting in caking of the powder. The caked or clumped powder tended to clog the hoppers and impede dispensing of the powder. As a result of the impeded powder dispensing, the beverage produced by such apparatus was inconsistent. Furthermore, the powder clumping problem required additional maintenance in order to break up the clumps and clear any dispensing tubes.
Another problem encountered with prior art powdered beverage dispensing mixing apparatus is that they tended to produce inconsistent beverages from the powdered beverage substance. One of the problems causing inconsistent beverages was the inability to thoroughly and effectively mix or blend the powder with a desired quantity of water to produce the resulting reconstituted beverage. Some prior art devices attempted to reconstitute beverage powders, for example hot cocoa mix powder, using only water forces to mix the powder with the water. In other words, water was injected into a mixing chamber and mixed with the beverage powder therein to produce the beverage. If variables associated with the water were altered, such as injection speed, the powder may not thoroughly mix and, as a result, produce an inconsistent beverage.
Additionally, prior art beverage apparatus did not produce a desired froth on top of the resultant beverage coffee drinks. For example, powdered beverage substances are available to produce cappuccino-type coffee beverages. In producing a cappuccino-type coffee beverage, it is desirable to have a layer of foam or froth on top of the beverage. This is desirable as it replicates the cappuccino beverages which are produced manually by the operator of a coffee bar. The coffee bar operator produces the froth by heating milk to produce a steamed and frothed milk substance which is poured over espresso to ultimately produce the cappuccino beverage. Prior art automatic beverage devices using powdered cappuccino beverage powder tended not to produce or inconsistently produce froth on top of the beverage produced from the beverage powder.
Still another problem encountered with prior art powdered beverage mixing and dispensing apparatus is that the temperature of the resultant beverage tended to be inconsistent. The temperature of the beverage was inconsistent as a result of the hot water line retaining a quantity of heated water between dispensing cycles. For example, during a dispensing cycle, hot water is transported through a dispensing line for mixing with the powdered beverage substance. Prior to a subsequent mixing cycle, the hot water which did not drain from the dispensing line tended to cool, resulting in a quantity of water which would not thoroughly mix with the beverage powder and producing inconsistent hot beverages. The inconsistency was manifested in both the temperature as well as the mixing of the powder with the water.
The dispensing lines in prior art apparatus also created another problem with regard to the flow rate therethrough. The prior art beverage apparatus tended to allow bubbles to settle out of the heated water as it cooled within the line. During a subsequent dispensing cycle, the air bubbles created turbulence in the water, thereby reducing the flow rate through the dispensing line. In order to counteract this problem, prior art devices placed a hole in the solenoid valve through which water is dispensed. The hole in the solenoid valve tended to draw air into the water flow, causing the resulting mixture of water and powder to be excessively frothy or foamy.
Prior art beverage mixing and dispensing apparatus also encountered problems with clumping and caking of the powder as a result of failing to mix or agitate the powder retained in the hopper. While some devices may have employed mixers or agitators within the hoppers, however, such mixers or agitators do not provide sufficient agitation of the powder to assure clump-free operation.
Finally, prior art beverage mixing and dispensing apparatus did not provide devices to draw a customer's attention to the apparatus. It has been found that it would be desirable to actively draw a customer's attention to the apparatus in an attempt to induce purchases and increase sales of such beverages. Some prior art apparatus may have used passive attraction techniques, such as graphics on the front of the device. However, these techniques were passive and did not actively draw a patron's attention towards the apparatus and the information set forth on the display graphic.
For the foregoing reasons, it would be desirable to provide a beverage mixing and dispensing apparatus which overcomes one or more of the above-stated problems.